One of the Most Popular Stones as Building Material

Granite is one of the most popular, durable, hard and beautiful natural stones, which is used in

interior as well as exterior applications. This versatile stone is ideal for architectural uses and in

making sculptures. It is extensively used in homes because of its incredible beauty, amazing

quality, and easiness to clean. Stone Age offers natural stone tiles and slabs, made with granite

stone.

Granite is a type of ingenious rock, which is formed out of volcanic material, like Magma. It is

mainly consists of Potassium, Feldspar (up to 65%) and Quartz (atleast 20%), and contains very

less amount of calcite. The natural stone may also contain other minerals like mica, horneblend

and seldom pyroxene. It is usually found in dark colors, although there are different types of

granite, depending upon the percentage mixture of the minerals. The word granite is derived

fro the Lati word Gra u - a grain, which is in reference to the coarse-grained structure.

Mostly granite is found in white, black, pink or gray in color. Black granite is identified as an

Anorthosite, which contains very small amount of quartz and feldspar. It also has a different

composition, as compared to true granite.

Characteristics

Strong and highly durable

Beautiful and one of the oldest stones

Resistant to acidic solution effects

Resistant to rainwater and cleansing agents

Versatile and hardest building stone

High load bearing capacity

Crushing strength

Amiability to cutting and shaping

Uses

Antiquity: The stone was popularly used to make historic structures and monuments.

One popular example of this is the Red Pyramid of Egypt. This pyramid is named so due

to the light crimson shade of its exposed granite surfaces. The Great Pyramid of Giza is

also beautified with Red Aswan Granite. The Brihadeeswarar Temple and the temple

made by Rajaraja Chola I of the Chola dynasty are also built with granite.

Sculptures and Memorials: Due to its hard characteristics, the stone is used for

gravestones and memorials.

Building: This ingenious rock is extensively used as a building material. It is used as a

facet stone in buildings, bridges, paving, monuments and many other exterior projects.

It is also used in the form of flooring tiles in various public and commercial buildings and

o u e ts. A eri a’s first railroad, k ow as The Gra ite Railway , was uilt with granite. Polished granite is used to make kitchen countertops, bath vanity tops,

backsplashes, bathroom sinks or basins, tabletops or desktops, fireplace mantles, tile

floors, stair treads and several other design elements.

Engineering: Traditionally, polished granite surface plates were used by engineers, because of

its impervious and inflexible nature. The best engineering and the most unusual use of granite

was in the construction of the rails for the Haytor Granite Tramway, England.

Other Uses: It is also used as grave markers and as gemstone.

Stone Age, one of the leading Indian stone suppliers, offers tiles and slabs and paving stones made with

granite to give your home interiors and exteriors a beautiful and fascinating look.